On our two trips to Macquarie it is hoped we will see four species of penguins, southern elephant seals and orca, though all weather dependent and we are in the wild.
We wake up early. Here we have zodiac'd in to near Buckles Bay on Macquarie. Note Judd in his waders.
Welcome to Australia!
This is the video of the beach. Look out for the penguin wandering through. The seals don't go for her but watch later . . .
The Macquarie research team are there to meet us. They have not seen visiting humans for 8 months. They have a permanent team here of 14 scientists, researchers, cooks and weather people. Everyone does a bit of everything. Everyone gets trained before they go in here - for example, some have anaesthetist training so they can carry out operations if required.
Kat is the station leader. We were all split into groups to walk around the bay. We got Kat.
We walked.
And got a view.
Bill enjoying the stroll.
Elephant seals were everywhere.
And sea lions.
And penguins - a lone chinstrap on a walk.
Two weaner elephant seals playing.
We see gentoo penguins with chicks.
They are adorable.
A gentoo on a stroll.
Then we see "The Beast" - an aggressive New Zealand Hooker sea lion who turns up here occasionally apparently.
He sees a penguin. Sea lions don't usually attack penguins. But The Beast does.
He "plays" with the unfortunate penguin, which tries to escape.
He took it into the water, but apparently didn't need to finish the meal. The petrels did.
After that sobering reminder of how nature works, we go into the research station buildings. The station is fenced so humans can have privacy from the animal and bird life.
We get a cup of tea and a scone - the scone is so delicious - and warm! They ran out but made extras for our group.
The gorgeous Kate, with bird guide Eric in the background. And Black Robin spotter Niall on the left (more about that later).
I meet Ashleigh. She is the Met Observer here. She also stamps our passports (we are in Australia!) Everyone does a bit of everything here.
And then we walk to see the weather balloon launched. 900 of these are released around the world at exactly the same time every day for weather forecasting - here it is at 10.15am. The southern ocean is very important for weather forecasting because much of the hemisphere's weather "starts" here.
This is Tim with the hydrogen balloon. It stays intact until about 30km in the air, and then becomes like a piece of soap.
A quick walk to Digestors. Joseph Hatch and his team cooked seals and penguins here for their oil from 1902 - 1920.
As we were leaving the island, a skua pecking at an elephant seal's wounds - more nature at work, you have to take your chances when you can in the wild.
Then it was our goodbyes. I got a photo with our Macquarie guides - Billie (a Kiwi), Kat, Robin (Tolly), Stella and Andrea - hope I have those names right?
A quick photo of all of us. There are 48 on the boat. I did a penguin like count. I counted 50 (I think Bec and Rob - the cooks - are in here too.)
Macquarie speaks...
"I am thrilled humans are taking better care of me than I have had in the past. I used to scream up to the sky Ranginui and scream to uri (my ancestors) and to taniwha’s - where are you? Someone assist me please? No one came until now. I had to be patient and I am so glad I was. I am now getting a bit of pampering even.
I evolved for 100 million years and then in 110 years I lost nearly all my fur seals, and elephant seals. It would be like humans losing an arm or a leg! They were replaced with rabbits and mice and cats. Maybe humans would be okay with prostheses.
I am happy with evolving humans when they evolve to serve nature. They admire all that I have and they want me to return to my former self, and be rich in flora and fauna. (They assist me in maintaining my endemic species and increasing the number of endemic species I have.) Humans I am guessing, want their own home richer with species too. Some of them are smart. The more endemic species I can hold on to, the healthier I am. Humans at some point forgot they were nature too. They decimated seals, elephant seals and penguins. I say they got consumed with something else other than the human species surviving forever. They can assist all islands when they stay in tune with us as part of nature. I have heard the Moriori were the best at this 800 years ago.
I am perched on a fault line. My uri will tell me when I cough up more crust from below. Twice a year I am readjusted from below and humans feel an earthquake. With the way climate change is going I may need to adjust more. I have lost sixty thousand birds a year since humans arrived. I have lost endemic species that took 80 million years to evolve, and who kept me healthy. Now I have to compensate. Losing that many whanau members who have been with me for nearly 80 million years makes me mad, makes me cry. Humans have caused their own demise, and climate change is the impact on all of us. There is a window to right this and it is fast closing. Evolving humans, who use their tools to assist me to be healthy and other islands increase their own longevity. I want to be heard too. I need humans and they need me. Thank you for all that you do. Keep in touch with nature and islands in particular please."
Thanks Macquarie for speaking out.
Then in the zodiac going back to the ship we see some orca circling. They are waiting for weaner elephant seals learning to swim and leaving their parents.
We had lunch on the boat, and then sailed to Sandy Bay which is about one hour south. We then had two hours onshore in this thriving wildlife paradise.
The king penguins were there to greet us.
This one very curious of Bill.
Maybe they think Bill is a "king".
But not me?
We walked just maybe 100m to see the King penguin colony.
The chicks (which are moulting) grow very big, very quickly as a defence against predators.
Then we went back the other way to see the Royals, passing the ship.
And looking south.
We followed the path to the Royal colony.
Royals lay two eggs - only one survives. The other goes to the skua's flying overhead, who have no mercy.
The Royal colony.
Royal penguins are interesting to watch when you know what they are doing. Here is the guide.
Head shaking after excitement (mating, emerging from rough sea, fighting.)
"What took you so long?"
Royal's loving each other.
This is a Royal running the gauntlet to go out to sea. They obviously have personalities. I would say this one's is causing havoc.
They can end up like this.
And another one running the gauntlet who has a different personality, and is not pecked as much.
And more photos of what, you may have guessed, are my favourite penguins so far.
Royals with others.
This video has it all. See if you can identify - Waiting for partner to return, What took you so long?, Waiting for egg to hatch, I am excited to see you after returning from water, Quivering, and We are in this together.
Looking back from the the zodiac on the way back to the ship.
This is Rowan having fun.
And penguins in the water beside us.
The book One Small Island by Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch about Macquarie has a quote at the end of it. It says "if we can save one small island, perhaps we can save them all." For me this is a reason for preserving these islands and connecting them to us all. (That is why I have spent so long on this blog, so you can travel with me.)
After we got back to the ship, we had an invitation dinner with Heidi and others, and then bed. It had been a great day!